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Dear Friend,
By the time this issue of the
NA NEWS reaches you, you will be looking back at Easter. If you are on the
leadership team of the NA, you will be looking forward to the Annual Meeting in Milwaukee. We move quickly from one
event to another, don't we? I know we are at the NA office.
Our Christian year is laid out in such a way that we imaginatively travel from Bethlehem,
to the Jordan River, to the hills of Galilee, to Jerusalem, to the garden, to Golgatha, to the
tomb, to Damascus road. Places help to carry messages. Presbyterians follow Calvin to
Switzerland, Catholics follow the road to Rome, Lutherans to Germany, Congregationalists to
England, Holland, and to Plymouth.
We tend to baptize and consecrate all kinds of places as "holy." It's always tempting to
locate Christ in some other time and some other place. It's almost impossible not to do so. But all
of the Gospels seem to hold this in common -- they rescue us from a heresy of nostalgia,
suggesting Christ is present wherever we go in the days and weeks and months ahead. There will never be a time or
place where we cannot be with Christ.
We pray that Christ will be with you and your congregations in this post-Easter, Springtime, pre-Summer, and
pre-Annual Meeting time, until we meet in Milwaukee, and experience Christ together, again.
Grace and Peace GREAT IDEAS
Adam Blossom, a member of
Arbor Grove Congl (Jackson, MI) has asked why we
don't have our web site translated into Korean
Church, Spanish, and Samoan? Good question! We
would have to depend upon bi-lingual people within our Churches to
volunteer to help us with such a project, and although they might be
willing to do it for a while it would be a constant task that we're not
sure would be sustainable. Thanks to Adam, we are aware that
translations may be needed in a few of our Churches. There is an
easily-accessible translation site
www.translation.com, that can help some members
and congregations in their ministry.
St. John's (First) sent us their
newsletter with lots of color, from color shots of their bell choir to
color graphics throughout. Excellent job! The Mission statement of the
Church is one of the best we've read.
HOW DO YOU MAKE HISTORY COME ALIVE?
Discovery Channel helps.
What about Christian/Religious history? Mysteries of the
Bible helps. In a time when we have a huge public
gap in historical memory, Churches are challenged to teach the history
of Christianity in any number of ways. We suggest you take a look at
Christian History bulletin inserts, as well as past issues of the magazine.
Call their toll-free # 1-800-806-7798.
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